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KDOC
KDOC-TV, virtual channel 56 (VHF digital channel 12), is an independent television station serving Los Angeles, California, United States that is licensed to Anaheim. Owned by Ellis Communications, the station is operated by Titan TV Broadcast Group under a local marketing agreement (LMA). KDOC-TV's studios and offices are located on North Grand Avenue in Santa Ana, and its transmitter is located atop Mount Wilson. History KDOC-TV first signed on the air on October 1, 1982; the station was initially owned by locally based Golden Orange Broadcasting, whose investors included entertainer Pat Boone. The station's original studio facilities were located at 1730 South Clementine Street in Anaheim, just blocks east of the Disneyland resort. At the time of its original sign-on it was the sixth independent station in the Los Angeles market, alongside KTLA (channel 5), KHJ-TV (channel 9, now KCAL-TV), KTTV (channel 11), KCOP (channel 13) and KSCI (channel 18). KDOC carried programs from conservative commentator Wally George and televangelist Dr. Gene Scott until their respective deaths in 2003 and 2005. During this period, the station was also popular for weekend broadcasts of Asian programming, which gained a significant non-Asian audience with the broadcast of the 1984–1985 (subtitled) Japanese Miyamoto Musashi television series. The station also was popular for its weekend block of professional wrestling and roller derby including World Class Championship Wrestling, Mid-Atlantic Wrestling's syndicated show World Wide Wrestling and Los Angeles Thunderbirds roller games. The station also offered some live sports programming, such as UNLV Runnin' Rebels men's basketball during the height of Jerry Tarkanian era (with play-by-play for many years called by Chick Hearn), plus Loyola Marymount University men's basketball, and a syndicated package of Western Athletic Conference men's basketball games. In 2004, KDOC (along with KPXN-TV) carried selected Anaheim Angels games, as then-new owner Arte Moreno wanted to broadcast more games beyond the slate of telecasts already contractually obligated to air on Fox Sports West and then-primary over-the-air carrier KCAL-TV. In the fall of 1988, KDOC embarked on the station's first brief foray in television news. KDOC began producing NewsWatch 56, a primetime newscast at 8 p.m. anchored by Michelle Merker (also the station's public affairs director) and Pat Matthews (then a radio newscaster from New Orleans). The program was moved frequently: first to 7 p.m., then to 9 p.m., and finally to 11 p.m. During that time, the station rebranded the program as Orange County NewsWatch, and then KDOC NewsWatch. In 1992, KDOC stopped producing full-fledged newscasts; the station instead produced local news updates. The station also stopped producing all other original in-house programming, except for the minimum amount required by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). Much of the station's programming through the years has been situation comedy and dramatic reruns that were seen on other Los Angeles area stations in years past, after those stations either relinquished or shared the rights with KDOC. Among those shows, they include The Mary Tyler Moore Show, The Dick Van Dyke Show, The Beverly Hillbillies, The Cosby Show, Saved by the Bell, The Doris Day Show and My Three Sons. Reruns of the iconic courtroom drama Perry Mason had been on the station since 1988, where it aired weekdays at noon for about 20 years, and aired early mornings on KDOC's main channel until September 2011 (several of the aforementioned shows currently air on the station's MeTV subchannel on digital channel 56.3). On April 4, 2006, Bert Ellis, along with Anaheim Ducks owners Henry Samueli and his wife Susan, bought KDOC for $149.5 million from Golden Orange Broadcasting. The sale closed in May 2006, placing KDOC under the ownership of Ellis Communications, Inc., a subsidiary of Atlanta-based Titan Broadcast Management. In September 2006, KDOC made changes to its programming schedule and debuted a new slogan (Endless Classics, a reference to the Beach Boys album and the 1966 film The Endless Summer) and logo. The lineup included more current syndicated repeats, Anaheim Ducks hockey, some movies, as well as hours of paid programming. In 2008, the station's programming began moving away from the "Endless Classics" format adding more recent comedies, and talk and court shows that have ended production. In September 2008, KDOC launched a new website. The new website brought a new look, promoting the station's new programming format, and removing the forum section for viewers to post questions and comments on KDOC-TV programming that many stations provide. The Endless Classics logo was replaced in late 2009. In the fall of 2009, the station added ESPN Plus' syndication package of Southeastern Conference football and men's basketball (later branded as SEC TV), and added its coverage of Big 12 Conference men's basketball during the 2010–11 season. The SEC TV syndication package ended in 2014 because of the launch of the new SEC Network as part of a 20-year deal between the Southeastern Conference and ESPN. On July 4, 2011, KDOC launched a new, revised website, as well as a new station logo (minus the "-TV" after the KDOC call letters), a new color scheme, programming promotions for KDOC's main channel (56.1) and MeTV subchannel (56.3), videos, and news headlines for both Los Angeles and Orange counties. On December 3, 2012, the station unveiled a new branding campaign, this time rebranding itself as "LA 56". On May 11, 2015, KDOC dropped the "LA 56" branding after more than two-and-a-half years of use and reverted to identifying by its call letters. This also includes the branding on the KABC-produced newscasts, which have since been rebranded as ABC 7 Eyewitness News on KDOC-TV. Category:Independent stations Affiliates Category:Channel 56 Category:1982 Category:Television channels and stations established in 1982 Category:Anaheim Category:Los Angeles Category:California Category:UHF Category:California Independent Stations Category:Former NTA Film Network affiliates Category:VHF Category:CBS Corporation Category:Former DuMont Affiliates